The Airline Pilots’ Association of India (ALPA India) has urged the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA) to raise five targeted tax measures for pilots with the Ministry of Finance, arguing that the widening post-tax income gap with Gulf carriers is accelerating the loss of experienced aviation professionals from India.
There was no immediate reaction from the aviation ministry at the time of filing this report. HT reached out to the Press Information Bureau for a comment but did not get one immediately.
“The civil aviation secretary held a meeting with the pilot group on Monday and the matter was discussed and noted for further considerations,” an official aware of the development said.
ALPA India, thus, asked MoCA to intervene at the inter-ministerial level. ALPA India linked its demand to concerns the government itself expressed before the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) in August 2025 over foreign carriers recruiting trained Indian aviation professionals. A senior first officer earning ₹ 5-7 lakh a month in India could have a post-tax take-home of around Rs, according to the association’s estimates. 3.5-5 lakh, compared with a tax-free Gulf equivalent of about ₹ 10 lakh. For commanders, it puts the effective gap at around 2.5-3 times, it stated. The association also said representations seeking similar reliefs had been made to the finance ministry in 2021, 2024 and January 2026, with no substantive response to the earlier submissions.
“Tax relief that retains experienced pilots is therefore an investment in MoCA’s own policy targets, not merely an industry welfare measure,” the letter said.
The association said India would require around 30,000 additional pilots over the next 15-20 years to support aviation expansion, including the regional connectivity network. It argued that retaining the experienced workforce was critical as pilots take years and significant resources for the purpose.
